Hinge

Abstract

Hinge (1) for a door which covers at least in part a compartment, of the type comprising a fixed support (2) coupled to the compartment frame, and a mobile support (3) coupled to the door, wherein such mobile and fixed supports are at least rotatably constrained one to the other. The hinge also comprises means to impose a predefined law of motion to the mobile support with respect to the fixed support during opening and/or closing of the door and controlled motor means (5) for aiding opening and/or closing of the door applying a push and/or a pull force onto said mobile support with respect to the fixed one.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to the field of hinges, particularly to a hinge for a door which covers a compartment, for example the loading compartment of a household appliance, of the type comprising motor means for aiding opening and / or closing of the door, for example operated by an electric motor.BACKGROUND ART[0002]Hinges are known in the art, which comprise a motor drive, typically electric, acting to open / close the door.[0003]For example, GB2350863 teaches to realize an oven provided with an electric-motor drive to open and close the cooking cavity. Such an oven provides the user with a manual control which, when operated, activates an electric motor for opening or closing the afore said doors. The electric motor, which acts directly as a door hinge, is sized to apply a force sufficient to fully open and close the doors, even when they are hinged along a horizontal axis.[0004]In the known art such motor drives, for example constituted by electric ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013]Using these controlled motor means, for example constituted by an electrically and/or electromagnetically operated actuator conveniently controlled by a programmable controller, which is coupled with a hinge provided with means to impose a predefined law of motion, it is possible to h

Problems solved by technology

In the known art such motor drives, for example constituted by electric motors coupled with a gearmotor or another kinematic chain connecting them to the fixed and mobile supports of a hinge, are therefore sized for moving the door completely and independently, and thus they are motor drives very expensive and bulky, also involving large power consumption.

Moreover, it is not possible to associate these solutions known in the art to pre-existing hinges, because t

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